Background

In response to the increasing impact of climate change on development and security issues, a growing
number of United Nations organizations work closely with governments to lay the ground for building
green and climate-resilient societies. In 2012, FAO, UNEP, UNESCO, UNFCCC, UNICEF, UNITAR and WMO
convened in Doha at COP 18/CMP 8 to launch the Alliance with a view to promoting meaningful,
result-oriented and effective international cooperation in support of the action on climate change
education, training, public awareness, public participation and access to information on climate
change.

Objectives

The objectives of the Alliance are to:

maximize synergies and coherence of activities, avoid duplication of effort and utilize available
expertise and resources in an efficient manner through enhanced coordination;

support Parties to the UNFCCC in their efforts to design, initiate and undertake activities
related to climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public
access to information;

establish a clear link between the work of the member organizations and the UNFCCC process.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

UNICEF's fundamental mission is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in
everything the organization does. On climate change, UNICEF seeks to:

Reduce the effects of climate change on children's rights;

Identify and enhance opportunities to advance the rights of children which arise from
global and local attention on climate change;

Empower children and youth through awareness-raising, education and training on climate
change to become agents of change and participate in global and national policy dialogues,
monitoring and reporting on climate change issues and progress, as well as contribute to
climate solutions.

United Nations Department of Public Information (UN DPI)

Promoting global awareness and understanding of the United Nations' work on climate
change;

Building partnerships and fostering dialogue with global constituencies such as academia,
civil society, the entertainment industry, educators and youth to encourage support for the
activities of the United Nations on climate change;

Working with the media to help cover various aspects of the United Nations’ work on
climate change;

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

UNDP works with national, regional, and local stakeholders to help them respond
effectively to climate change and promote low-emission, climate-resilient development. UNDP
support focuses on three areas: connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to
help people increase their resilience to climate impacts and shift production and consumption
practices so they are not harmful to the environment; helping countries build more resilient
societies; and strengthening the capacity of countries to access, manage and account for
climate finance through, inter alia:

Providing training to enhance understanding and participation of Governments,
non-governmental organizations and indigenous groups in the international climate change
negotiations;

Strengthening institutions and leadership on climate change at the national and
sub-national level;

Supporting national stakeholders to develop the infrastructure and capabilities needed to
access, analyse and apply data to build the resilience of national development strategies,
priorities and plans;

Contributing to climate change education at schools, universities and institutions.

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women)

UN Women works towards the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and
beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. To
help ensure that discussions and work on climate change education, training, public
awareness, participation and access to information reflect a gender perspective and are
gender-responsive, UN Women:

Supports intergovernmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW),
and does advocacy at the UNFCCC, the General Assembly and SIDS 2014 process, among others;

Advances women’s leadership and participation in the UNFCCC process through

Building capacity of women in government ministries and/or delegates to the UNFCCC
through trainings and networking activities.

Working with partners in advocacy on gender equality and climate change through outreach
to Member States, publications, co-organisation of and participation in side-events and other
high-level meetings and conferences;

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Supporting countries in designing, launching and implementing national climate change
outreach programmes and developing long-term national action plans and strategies on Article
6;

Promoting the integration of environment and sustainability concerns into teaching,
research, community engagement and the management of universities as well as providing
training courses on sustainable development, preparedness for disaster risk reduction,
environment risk reduction and environmental law through the Global Universities Partnership on
Environment for Sustainability;

Developing and implementing outreach programmes with the Tunza Network, children and youth organizations, and
through partnerships with the scouts, girl guides, school children, students etc.;

United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)

Hosting the Secretariat for the One UN Training Service Platform on Climate Change
UN CC:Learn, a partnership of 33 multilateral
organizations which supports countries in designing and implementing results-oriented and
sustainable learning to address climate change.

UNESCO is the lead agency for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
(DESD, 2005-2014), which seeks to mobilize the educational resources of the world to help
create a more sustainable future. Within the framework of the DESD, UNESCO responds to
climate change through education;

United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU - IAS)

Advancing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), including climate change related
training, education, research and action, through its ESD programme by:

promoting the incorporation of ESD into curricula at all levels of education and in
all levels of society to increase general knowledge of ESD-related issues globally, while
improving international actions related to ESD;

developing learning systems for sustainable development through its 127 Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD that are
comprised of regional and local networks of organizations representing, among others,
institutions of formal and non-formal learning including universities, schools,
municipalities, civil society organisations and private sector;

enabling global exchange of experiences and innovative practices for capacity
development and their institutionalization.